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perceptions leading, in this way, to a kind of understanding not easily achieved using quantitative methods Robson, 2011.
Primary data were collected between September and October 2013 and six in-depth interviews were held with teachers selected especially for this purpose. The interviews had an average duration of one hour, were tape
recorded and the useful conclusions deduced were utilized as auxiliary material for the final definition of the questionnaire which was used at a later step.
3.2 Quantitative Research Thus, at the stage of quantitative research, the questionnaire method was used as it is one of the most widespread
and popular research methods for gathering data Robson, 2011. It should be mentioned that the unit of analysis for the present study were Secondary Education teachers of various specialties mathematicians, philologists,
physicists, language teachers, biologists, agronomists and engineers selected with the method of convenience sampling Babbie, 2001. Although the respondents formed a convenience sample, there was an effort to select
teachers that were representative of the population. Thus, the sample was formed by 157 teachers of Secondary Education from General and Technical-Vocational High Schools in the prefecture of Central Macedonia.
The questionnaire was developed specifically for the purpose of this case study, based on literature review, the research’s main objective and the conclusions of the qualitative interviews. It consisted of fifty five closed
answer questions and the respondents’ level of agreement or disagreement with statements was assessed using a 5-point Likert-type scale questions Robson, 2011; Vagias, 2006. The questionnaire was initially pilot-tested in
face-to-face sessions with teachers and redefined based on feedback received. The final survey was conducted between November and December 2013 and statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for
Social Sciences SPSS v.17.
4. Results
4.1 Qualitative Data Among the main findings of the qualitative research is teachers’ belief that environmental education can play an
important role in today’s educational reality. Participants in the present case study acknowledge that environmental education in secondary schools can serve as a useful tool for integrating environmental values
into students’ mentality. Moreover, teachers believe that there is a strong connection of environmental education with experiential methods. In addition, the majority of respondents expressed the opinion that the systematic
application of experiential teaching methods for effective learning requires adequately qualified and highly motivated teachers who are able to answer the requirements of experiential teaching.
4.2 Statistics and Quantitative Data Analysis Next, in the phase of quantitative research, the data processing contributed to the formation of the respondents’
profile Table 1. As far as gender is concerned, the majority of teachers were women 59.2 and the average age was 42.3 years. A notable 62.6 of the respondents were married and 36.8 of them hold a postgraduate
degree Master. At the time when the present research was conducted, the teachers’ average working experience in Secondary Education was 10.2 years and the 66.2 of them were teaching in schools located in urban areas,
while 33.8 of them were teaching in schools located in rural areas Table 1.
Table 1. Secondary education teachers’ profile Men–Women
40.8 - 59.2 Age average and standard deviation
42.3 7.5 years
Marital status 62.6 married
Postgraduate degrees Masters 36.8
Years working in Secondary Education average 10.2
School’s area urban-rural 66.2 - 33.8
Next, using a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from never to a great deal Vagias, 2006, teachers were asked to demarcate to what extent they use certain experiential teaching methods. Bearing in mind the conclusions of
the qualitative research, the present case study focused on four teaching methods: field exercise, experiment, simulation and role playing.
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Thus, investigating the frequency of use of experiential teaching methods in secondary environmental education, the results showed that among respondents field exercise is used a great deal 62.4 and a moderate amount
28.1 Table 2. Experiment is also a frequently used method, as it is used a great deal 44.6, a moderate amount 28.7 and occasionally 24.2 while only 2.5 of the respondents use it rarely Table 2. Simulation
seems to be another frequently used experiential method among teachers as it is used a great deal 43.4, a moderate amount 26.1 and occasionally 26.1 while a small percentage of teachers 4.4 rarely use it
Table 2. Finally, the teaching method of role playing is used a great deal 31.2, a moderate amount 28.1, occasionally 28.7, rarely 8.9 and never 3.2 Table 2.
Table 2. Frequency of use of experiential teaching methods Experiential
teaching methods
Never Rarely
Occasionally A moderate
amount A great
deal Total
Field exercise 0.0
0.0 15
9.5 44
28.1 98
62.4 157
100.0 Experiment
0.0 4
2.5 38
24.2 45
28.7 70
44.6 157
100.0 Simulation
0.0 7
4.4 41
26.1 41
26.1 68
43.4 157
100.0 Role playing
5 3.2
14 8.9
45 28.7
44 28.1
49 31.2
157 100.0
Moreover, using a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree Vagias, 2006, respondents were asked to express their level of agreement or disagreement with four statements concerning
environmental education and experiential teaching methods Table 3. The results indicated that the vast majority of the teachers strongly agree 63 or simply agree 33.8 with the opinion that experiential teaching methods
are connected with environmental education while only five persons 3.2 express a neutral opinion.
Next, the present case study focused on researching teachers’ opinions concerning the statement that experiential teaching methods can upgrade the learning procedure. The vast majority of the respondents 79 strongly agree
with this statement, 19.1 of them simply agree while only three teachers 1.9 neither agree nor disagree. It is widely considered that students in environmental education prefer to be engaged in experiential learning
activities. A notable 63.1 of the respondents strongly agree Table 3 while only a small percentage 2.4 expresses a neutral opinion, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Next, teachers were asked to express their opinion
on whether experiential teaching methods can be applied in most environmental issues. The majority of the respondents strongly agrees 61.1 or simply agrees 34.5 and only 4.4 of them neither agrees nor
disagrees.
Table 3. Level of agreement with certain statements Statement
Strongly disagree
Disagree Neither
agree nor disagree
Agree Strongly
agree Total
Experiential teaching methods are connected with
environmental education 0.0
0.0 5
3.2 53
33.8 99
63 157
100.0 Experiential teaching methods
can upgrade the learning procedure
0.0 0.0
3 1.9
30 19.1
124 79
157 100.0
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Students prefer to be taught environmental issues through
experiential teaching methods 0.0
0.0 4
2.4 54
34.5 99
63.1 157
100.0 Experiential teaching methods
can be applied in most environmental issues
0.0 0.0
7 4.4
54 34.5
96 61.1
157 100.0
5. Discussion and Conclusions
